Asia Markets And Europe Open 7/28/2009
Markets in Asia were narrowly mixed. The Nikkei was down a fraction of a percent at 10,087. The Hang Seng was up 1% to 20,444. China Mobile (CHL) and China Unicom (CHU) both rose.…
All Work
Douglas A. McIntyre
Is Starbucks Altering Its Health Insurance Stance? (SBUX)
Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) has announced to its U.S. employees that it will make the company discretionary match to the 401(k) Savings Plan for the 2009 plan year. In December 2008, Starbucks made its 401(k)…
GAMCO, Gabelli, Files To Raise Cash (GBL)
It was not that long ago that GAMCO INVESTORS INC. saw its credit rating hurt by an S&P downgrade, sort of. S&P put the parent of Gabelli Funds credit rating outlook at Negative. And…
New Measures Against Short Sale Abuse
We are starting to get more information out of the Securities and Exchange Commission on how it plans to go after some of the abuses which have been prevalent in short selling. Keep in…
More Stocks For Buffett To Unload (BRK-A, MCO, COP, CEG, GCI, WPO, MTB, WBC)
How frequently has Warren Buffett been bashed by the media over Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s (NYSE: BRK-A) lackluster performance ? What was interesting to see is his stake being lowered in Moody’s Corp. (NYSE: MCO). …
24/7 Wall St. TV: Starbucks (SBUX) Doesn’t Take Food Stamps
The earnings of companies including Starbucks (SBUX) and Caterpillar (CAT) have been better than expected. A number of analysts and the press have pointed out that one-time cost cuts, including lay-offs, can’t be sustained.…
Europe Steps Up Timetable On Swine Flu Vaccines (VICL, NVAX, BCRX)
Shares of vaccine makers including Vical Inc. ((Nasdaq: VICL), Novavax Inc. (Nasdaq: NVAX) and BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq: BCRX) all are up strongly Monday after Europe’s version of the FDA decided to fast-track swine…
24/7 Wall St. TV: Funding Healthcare, Taxing The Obese
The Administration and Congress are looking for ways to close the funding gap for the $1 trillion national health care overhaul. The hospital industry has already agreed to $155 billion in concessions and pharma…
Lower Housing Prices Generating Much Higher Sales (XHB, ITB)
The Commerce Department’s data on new home sales did not just rise in June for a third straight month. The new home sales rose sharply. The headline number came in at an 11% gain…
Agilent-Varian, Partly Transformational Move (A, VARI)
Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) is making what seem an unusual acquisition. It is acquiring Varian, Inc. (NASDAQ: VARI) after signing a definitive agreement for the acquisition. Agilent will pay roughly a 35% premium…
Top Day Trader Alerts (AET, GLW, TMS, YGE, CALM, ANR)
The following are some of the top stocks to watch for active trading today based on pre-market and after-hours volume activity. There are links through to more detailed coverage and volume analysis at VSInvestor.com:…
CIT: The Bank That Bailed Out Itself
John Tamny of RealClearMarkets Not too long ago, it was broadly assumed that mid-level lender CIT Group would go bankrupt. With its executives having staked the firm’s survival on receipt of a federal loan,…
Top 10 Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades (ADSK, BA, BEAV, EXC, OXPS, RCL, UNH, TROW, WU, AUY)
These are this Monday morning’s top ten Wall Street analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations we have seen with close to 2 hours until the market opens: Autodesk (ADSK) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.…
Bernanke TV
For reasons that will probably always remain a mystery to the broader public, Fed chair Bernanke went to Kansas City this past weekend to defend his record at a town hall meeting covered by…
Gasoline Prices Continue Sharp Slide
One of the concerns economists have is that rising oil prices could derail a recovery from the recession, particularly if crude moves back above $70 and stays there. Gasoline prices have kept dropping, for…
Apple’s (AAPL) Plan To Pump Up iTune Sales
Apple (AAPL) already has the world largest digital music store, iTunes, based on most industry measurements. It plans to expand that dominant position in a fashion that will help both it and the music…
IBM’s (IBM) Relocation To India
One of the concerns analysts have about the nature of second quarter earnings is that they are beating forecasts due to cost cuts and not improvements in revenue. Cost cuts can help margins for…
Tax The Fat To Fund Healthcare
The cost of the Administration’s healthcare plan is $1 trillion, give or take several billion dollars, based on how the program looks in its final form. The proposal is facing resistance in Congress, some…
Madden 2010 Sales To Fuel GameStop (GME)
Over the past week, the 24/7 Wall St./The Channel Checkers poll surveyed Gamestop and EB Games stores across the United States to track sales trends of gaming consoles and video games. We asked the following questions:…
Macy’s (M) sales seen improving–The 24/7 Wall St./The Channel Checkers Survey
Over the past week, the 24/7 Wall St./The Channel Checkers poll surveyed various Macy (M) stores to track sales and business levels in July. We asked the following questions: 1. How is business this year? 2. Do you have…